Pastoral Council minutes 03-31-09

Absent: McRanlend Ho

Began with prayer and introductions welcoming new member Martha DeLeon, bilingual Hispanic representative, school parent, wonderful addition!

Chuck Marshall filled the council in on the principal search committee.  Winston Kenton, a former police officer, high school teacher, college coach and currently a full time sub at Bishop Carroll high school will be our principal.  He will work part time for St. Anne and part time for St. Cecilia. 

We then spent time reflecting on Archbishop Marchettos article focusing on Hispanic immigrants.  We need to separate the church from the secular world. There is a need for use of the mother tongue, especially in catechesis.  There are different devotions such as Our Lady of Guadalupe, Posadas, etc.  The recent Hispanic dance became a topic of discussion.  Why people didn’t attend, they didn’t know if they would be welcomed, wasn’t sure if it was a fundraiser or just for a certain group. Thoughts are that everyone should attend cultural events. 

When focusing on the structures for the pastoral care of immigrants, we must improve interpersonal relations.  Not properly greeting people might make them feel like you don’t care about them or are ignoring them.  A big cultural difference between Hispanics and other cultures such as greeting each person and saying good bye, hand shaking, kiss on the cheek can hinder building relationships. Anglos often close themselves off and Hispanics want to engage. Hispanic culture could teach this to entire parish.  Formation of young people is certainly key.  We need to get the kids in our Catholic school.  Dialogue between all is so important or “idols” are formed.  When we close in on ourselves and stay in our comfort zone, we create our own societies, but in actuality we are all ecclesial bonded.  The integration of Hispanic families into our church is vital as well as for Anglo families.  To be true to the universal church you must integrate. Polish, German, Italian, National churches, only lasted about two generations.  We don’t want to go back to that, Father mentioned what just happened in Wellington.  The one church was formed out of discrimination, in fact it was not a true church. 

Please take time to listen to the Podcasts at www.dcdiocese.org, if not attached to our website yet. (Bishop Jackels and Luis Soto)

We then started reviewing ministries again:

St. Anne School –We are accredited by NCA now but looking at other possibilities.  Art Smart volunteers introduce kids to different variations of art.  Health room Aide – volunteers are parents and parishioners.  Need to increase enrollment.  People misunderstand what tithing is so they think it is outrageously expensive.  We need to brag about our school.  We have a great faculty.  The best marketing we have is the kids themselves.  Monica speaking as a graduate said it truly helped her keep her faith and make it her own and not just her parents religion.  We need to think of a way to bring the Hispanic moms into the school. Walter knows of a Mexican dance group we could bring to the school. A volunteer would teach while the kids learn about the culture.

Athletic Formation – Important for young boys, energy, sportsmanship, teamwork, good old fashioned sweat.  They don’t always have enough volunteer coaches, concession stand workers, facility usage.  Our concession stand is stocked very well.  Could we start a mini-soccer league at the middle school level?  We have talked about it with St. Margaret Mary, St. Patrick’s, maybe St. Jude. Would there be enough interest in a school league because of all the competitive leagues?  No money to pay coaches or AD.

Hopefully we will finish up the book in the next two to three meetings.

A few suggestions and feedback from council members:

Maybe look into hosting an international dinner as a social. 

Have a visiting Vietnamese priest visit with parishioners maybe say Mass or rosary in native language.

Put in the bulletin that when there is a funeral there will not be an 8AM daily Mass.

There is a Safety issue regarding stairs leading to setter hall and parish office.  Track down plan progress, get three bids, see what level groups can help.  Several groups, Harvest House and Knights of Columbus did not like the way it was presented. 

Presentation of the Creed Mass, attendance was very low.  Father announced it at weekend Masses.  All people heard was the reading of the Creed was for the RCIA people not everyone else. 

Pat asked for prayers for Krystal Casterena, a second grade PSR student recently diagnosed with leukemia.  She will celebrate her First Communion this weekend at 5:15 Mass. 

The meeting dismissed at 8:15PM. 

The next meeting is May 5^th at 6PM. We will bring food to celebrate Cinco de Mayo.  Everyone bring something to share!